Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is StonePine Asset Management Inc.’s Largest Position

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 4th, 2023

StonePine Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 641.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,491,912 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,290,774 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 11.4% of StonePine Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. StonePine Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $430,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Optas LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 25,001 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,996,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the period. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 11,951 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,445,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 44,418 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,652,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Quilter Plc grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 844,299 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $202,480,000 after acquiring an additional 11,563 shares during the period. Finally, SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 200,299 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $48,036,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $337.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $213.43 and a 12 month high of $351.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $322.86 and its 200 day moving average is $281.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $52.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.01 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 33.25% and a return on equity of 38.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 9.64 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 16th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total value of $9,182,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,952,107.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Teri List sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total transaction of $418,462.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 874 shares in the company, valued at $292,588.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total transaction of $9,182,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,456 shares in the company, valued at $35,952,107.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,331 shares of company stock worth $15,867,278 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Atlantic Securities upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $365.00 to $380.00 in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $340.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.18.

Microsoft Company Profile

(Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.